NACUBO-Commonfund study reports small decline in endowments for fiscal 2012

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The annual National Association of College and University Business Officers-Commonfund study, released today in its entirety, reports a decline of 0.3% on returns for higher education endowments in 2012.

InsideHigherEd has an infographic available with key highlights of the survey, which included 831 public and private universities and reported a negative average return for the third time in five years.

In order to keep up with inflation and maintain endowment spending at the current average rates of 4.5% and 5%, institutions would need to see annual returns of about 7.4%.

From the article:

The writing has been on the wall for a while, and it hasn't looked good. First, a handful of the country's wealthiest universities announced in October that their endowments saw tepid returns for the fiscal year that ended June 30, with Harvard University's fund, the country's largest educational endowment, posting a decline. Then preliminary data about this year's annual National Association of College and University Business Officers-Commonfund study of endowments hinted at losses across higher education. ...